The Role of Democratic Transformational Leadership Style in Supporting Clan Organizational Culture

Abstract

Leadership plays a critical role in achieving organizational success and shaping its culture. This paper investigates the role of leadership in shaping organizational culture, specifically within a leading automotive dealership in Indonesia aiming to strengthen its clan culture. This paper aims to evaluate the existing leadership approach in the company and identify a style that would better support a clan culture. Primary data for the study was gathered through a quantitative survey of 324 employees, selected using Slovin’s formula. The questionnaire model that was employed is the Vannsimpco Leadership Survey (VLS). The tools that were used for analysis are descriptive analysis and gap analysis. Results show that the organization predominantly exhibits an Autocratic-Transformational leadership approach. In contrast, the expected leadership style that emerged from the results is Democratic-Transactional. Based on the findings, the company is advised to strategically realign its leadership to a Democratic-Transformational style, emphasizing participative decision-making, open communication, and collaborative, employee-focused approaches to foster a clan culture.